16 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN April/May 2024 BEEF UP Beef up with BOVAMINE DEFEND® Plus. An innovative combination of four proven strains of good bacteria, BOVAMINE DEFEND Plus supports cattle gut health and immunity, allowing cattle to be more productive. Research also shows improvements in feed efficiency, cattle performance, dressing percentage and hot carcass weight — all helping to beef up your profit potential, too. It’s the power of good bacteria at work. Scan to learn more. YOUR CATTLE. YOUR OPERATION. YOUR BOTTOM LINE. Chr Hansen BDP_Half page_NECattlemen_Fall2023.indd 1 10/10/23 11:07 AM Planning for increased water consumption includes checking wells, water pressure and placing additional tanks in pens, which also reduces crowding around the water to help avoid elevating body temperature. By doing this work ahead of time, cattle have some time to acclimate and find those extra sources of water, reducing stress. Avoid Processing and Moving Cattle Prior to a heat event, Lukasiewicz emphasizes educating all working crews about processing. “We do not want to be processing cattle at least 24 hours prior to the heat event, so if we have the opportunity to not process and not vaccinate, that is ideal,” he says. Processing can be accomplished if it is absolutely necessary as early as possible in the day, but Lukasiewicz warns against this. “Early in the morning is the time when the cattle have their ability to cool down from the night before. If you process early in the morning, you’re intervening with that cooldown period, and that impacts the heat load that those cattle take on,” he says. “We have to be really careful about when we process during that time.” According to Lukasiewicz, when cattle are processed and given a vaccination, that vaccine is creating an immune response, which causes the animal’s core temperature to increase almost 2 degrees. That animal maintains that core temperature for about 48 to 72 hours. “You might have vegetation, like weeds or brush or even hay bale windbreaks, close to some of the pens that could be removed,” Woiwode encourages. “If we have a windbreak near a pen, while it provides a lot of benefit for the cattle during the winter, during heat events it’s actually detrimental. Even a 10foot structure can reduce wind speed for as much as 100 feet.” To assess airflow movement on your facility, a Kestrel meter can be used. The base model also provides temperature and dew-point readings. Reducing stocking density and creating mounds in pens are two other strategies to help with airflow issues. Mounds in pens provide access to increased wind speed, in some cases, and also can reduce crowding. Water Access and Availability Water should be prioritized as an important tool to combat heat stress as cattle’s need for water increases significantly with heat. At temperatures warmer than 80 degrees, cattle need more water than normal to prevent dehydration and allow heat to be dissipated through evaporative cooling and urination. Consuming water is the quickest and most efficient method to reduce body temperature. Each animal needs as much as five gallons every two hours during a heat event. BE PREPARED! CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15
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